Tom Brady Sr.: Agent For Brady, Garoppolo 'Takes His Marching Orders From Tommy'
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- As has been well-publicized at this point, the Patriots have a quarterback situation.
It's not a problem, per se, in the sense that they currently employ a Hall of Famer playing the best football of his life, even as he nears the advanced age of 40. They also employ a promising young quarterback who could possibly be in line to succeed Brady.
Yet, with Brady's laser focus on playing into his mid-40s, and with Jimmy Garoppolo's contract due to expire after 2017, the Patriots no doubt have themselves a situation.
It is a situation that is complicated -- or perhaps, eased, depending on which way you look at it -- by the fact that Brady and Garoppolo share the same agent in Don Yee. From an outside perspective, it would seem to be a rather difficult position Yee is in. On the one hand, he has to serve the best interests of the most high-profile client he will ever have. On the other hand, he's got to get young James paid.
But according to a source close to Brady -- like, really close to Brady -- Yee does not have much of a conflict.
"I think Don Yee takes his marching orders from Tommy," Tom Brady Sr. told The Boston Globe's Chris Gasper.
Well. That clears that up.
Of course, the elder Brady is not privy to all contract discussions involving his son and his agent, but he would qualify as being a fairly reliable source on the matter.
Gasper, who spoke to Brady's father for a story that ran earlier in the week, shared what was presumably a leftover quote from his interview.
"[Yee's] relationship with Jimmy is something different," Brady Sr. explained. "As long as he is serving Tommy's purposes, that's all that's important, given that [Yee's] not the person that is dictating the position lineups for the Patriots. He has been a very good counselor and adviser to Tommy for the last 18 years, so I don't see that changing."
Frankly, it's safe to say that most agents give assurances to parents of players that their kid is priority No. 1. Granted, that usually applies to younger players who are just starting their careers (players like ... Jimmy Garoppolo?) and not to soon-to-be 40-year-olds who have earned some $200 million in their careers.
Nevertheless, Brady's father at the very least shared what could be the sentiment of the Brady camp regarding Don Yee's priorities. Reality dictates that the Patriots will at some point need to make a change at quarterback. In the meanwhile, Yee's job is merely to serve his clients and not fill out the Patriots' depth chart for the next five years.
